La Ronge Mayor Ron Woytowich at the Tuesday gathering. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
In light of a La Ronge robbery that turned fatal on the weekend, northern crime was on the minds of many at the New North annual mayor and council spring gathering.
RCMP Commanding Officer Curtis Zablocki was on hand to answer questions at the Tuesday gathering in Prince Albert.
Among them, La Ronge Mayor Ron Woytowich asked why it takes so long for Mounties to notify the public about serious crimes when police in larger cities are much quicker to communicate. In Woytowich’s case, he said he was getting phone calls from multiple media outlets on the Louisiana’s Bar-B-Que break-in that killed Simon Grant long before the RCMP had released any details.
Zablocki said as a former detachment commander, he expects better communication.
“It shouldn’t happen that way,” he said.
“You should get a call when something significant happens in your community like what happened in La Ronge this past weekend. As the mayor, as the reeve, you should get a call from your detachment commander.”
Buffalo Narrows Mayor Bobby Woods at the mic on Tuesday. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
As far as media communication goes, Zablocki said there are media headquarters in Regina but “we don’t prohibit our personnel, our commanders, or any of our NCOs from speaking to the media.”
He said the RCMP in the province is already aware of the need to build capacity on its communication with media.
Many of the hundred or so mayors and councillors present had kind words for Zablocki and for regional RCMP officers, but there was also criticism.
Rodney McCallum said in the six months he’s been on Buffalo Narrows village council, their local RCMP commanders have not spoken with council at all or sent a single police report to the village.
Zablocki said officers are expected to be engaged in their communities.
“If they’re not, we have to hear feedback about that,” he said.
“We’ve got some work to do from our own shop as well, but we want to work with the communities, we need the communities to work with us as well.”
The mayor and council gathering also covered topics of waste management, met with officials from the Urban Municipalities Association, and touched on the topics of government relations in the wake of last month’s provincial budget.
New North has been actively seeking letters of support for STC Bus which is set to close its doors permanently on May 31.